PEI - Two Days in Charlottetown

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Welcome to Charlottetown!

We had booked two free nights at the Delta Prince Edward Hotel on the waterfront in Charlottetown to celebrate a combination anniversary and David’s birthday. Named after Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III of England, Charlottetown is Prince Edward Island’s provincial capital. It’s a small city with an interesting history, a compact, lively downtown and a pleasant boardwalk and waterfront walking area. All the right ingredients for a 2-day vacation… from our vacation.

We checked into the hotel early without a hitch,  got an assigned parking spot for Blanche right out front and headed to our room on the 7th floor overlooking Queen Street. We unpacked (we have a fine set of Trader Joe bags just for hotel stays) and headed out to explore.

view of the Merchanman Restaurant from our 7th floor hotel window. We eventually chose this restaurant for our celebratory dinner. Food was mediocre, but the company was outstanding.

There was lots to see and do over the next two days. Rather than bore you with words, here’s a little visual taste of Charlottetown.

Walking along the boardwalk

Remember, you can always enlarge the photos by clicking on the thumbnails.

fanningbank Government House - Official Home of PEI's Lieutenant Governor. Very nice digs!

According to the Discover Charlottetown website, “Eckhart the Mouse is the main character from the True Meaning of Crumbfest, the story of a curious little mouse, written by PEI author David Weale. Eckhart is first and foremost an adventurer. Nine of our little bronze mice were installed in their “hiding places” around the City.” We found the little guy hiding behind a lamppost on Queen Street.

Elkhart is rather handsome. We should have introduced him to Miriam.

We stopped at the Charlottetown Beer Garden for a beer and very good local entertainment, then headed back to the hotel for a ‘picnic’ in our room. We were saving our big splurge for the celebration night!

David’s birthday arrived on a beautiful day with warm temperatures and bright sunshine . We slept in and then went for a mid-morning brunch, complete with mimosas, at Leonhard’s. Pricey and crowded, but very good.

We strolled by St. Dunstan’s Basilica. Built in 1896 to 1907 in the High Victorian Gothic style, it’s a very imposing structure on Great George Street and the center of the Catholic diocese in Prince Edward Island.

St. Dunstan's Basilica

We strolled around the small, but lovely downtown area, wandering up Victoria Row, a pedestrian mall with lots of boutiques, shops and restaurants. We checked out menus for the evening and browsed in some of the shops, buying nothing, but appreciating all the eye candy.

Victoria Row was lively and colorful.

The Olde Dublin Pub has fresh PEI oysters on the half shell on offer for $1 each. We ordered a dozen and slurped them down with cold draft beers.

Fresh PEI oysters... wonderful!

The other end of the waterfront was alive with music and busy with restaurant goers, shoppers and tourists. We especially liked the floating restaurants along the wharf.

Floating restaurants

After surveying restaurant dinner menus for two days, we finally ended up across the street from the hotel at The Merchantman. We celebrated with champagne at a cozy table for two by a window overlooking Queen Street. Though our meal was disappointingly mediocre, the company was wonderful as always and nothing could have spoiled the mood.

Memories made in Charlottetown.

Next time, join us as we cycle PEI’s Confederation Trail.